Chinese Communists Secure Regime With Massive Military Budget

February 6, 2008

By Chen Pokong
The Epoch Times
Feb 05, 2008

When the international community questions the Chinese communist
regime's motivation for expanding its military, the regime typically
responds that it's in the interests of national defense, or the need to
thwart Taiwan independence.

However, most of China's Asian neighbours and many western countries
including the United States believe the Chinese army has expanded far
beyond its defense needs.

Admiral Timothy J. Keating, current commander of the U.S. Pacific
Command, pointed this out during a recent visit to China. Countering
Taiwan independence means a potential war along the Taiwan Strait. But
even for that, China's military strength has exceeded far beyond its needs.

Over the last 20 years, China's military yearly expenditure has doubled,
reaching into the hundreds of billions of yuan per year. However, it is
estimated that the actual military spending is at least two to three
times higher than what has been publicized.

Each year, the military budget heads the list of national financial
budgets during the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

For example, when the topic of people's livelihood was particularly
stressed at the NPC and CPPCC held in March 2007, military spending
still ranked at the top. The 2007 military budget reached 350.921
billion yuan (about US$ 46.789 billion), which was 52.99 billion yuan
more than previous years and presented an increase of 17.8 per cent.

It accounted for 7.5 per cent of the national fiscal expenditure. It was
higher than the agricultural expenditure of 800 billion yuan covering
more than 800 million farmers. It was also more than double the total
expenditure for science, technology, education, health and cultural
development.

Taiwan independence has been a delicate issue for the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP). The regime might feel humiliated if Taiwan indeed declares
independence. After all, the CCP has exaggerated the importance of the
issue both domestically and internationally for many years.

However, if the voice of pro-independence weakens, or if the Taiwanese
no longer debate the issue of independence versus unification, the
regime's excuse for military expansion would no longer exist. Not
expanding the army would lead to a sense of insecurity. Therefore, in
fact, the CCP wants Taiwan to continue and prolong the debate.

The Tibet issue also provides clues to the CCP's hidden agenda.

When the Dalai Lama publicly renounced his stance on Tibetan
independence, admitted willingly that "Tibet is a part of China" and
even adopted the "one country, two systems" invented by the CCP in the
hopes of securing autonomy for Tibet and to resolve the Tibet issue, the
regime not only refused to acknowledge his gesture but also continues to
criticize the Dalai Lama and label him "pro-independence."

As a result, while the international community is aware that the Dalai
Lama is not seeking independence but rather autonomy, the Chinese people
still hold the misconception that the Dalai Lama is pushing for the
independence of Tibet.

The purpose of such propaganda is to delay the peace talks with the
Dalai Lama so that the Chinese regime can continue to reform Tibetan
culture and thus achieve full control over Tibet after the Dalai Lama
passes away.

Meanwhile, it also serves to confuse the international community and to
avoid pressure to conduct peace talks between Beijing and the Dalai Lama.

The situation with the Taiwan issue is very similar. With the excuse of
"anti-Taiwan independence," the CCP has been able to not only develop
and accumulate large amounts of armaments and train and maintain a
massive armed force, but also hold on to its last lifesaver in the name
of nationalism and patriotism.

In addition, "anti-Taiwan independence" also serves as a smokescreen for
the regime to mislead Chinese citizens' prospects for Taiwan's democracy
and avoid the direct influence and impact of Taiwan's democracy to China.

Moreover, the mouthpieces of the Chinese communists, such as China
Central TV Station, have frequently demonized Taiwan's democracy with
its own concocted "Cultural Revolution" to discredit and vilify Taiwan's
democracy.

With a presidential election in Taiwan this year, the Chinese communists
are worried about who will take office. The CCP would wish neither to
tone down nor to end the issue of Taiwan independence. The real
catastrophe for the CCP will arrive once the issue of "democracy versus
autocracy" along the Taiwan Strait replaces that of "unity versus
independence."

It can be expected that if Ma Ying-Jeou becomes president, his idea of
"no unification, no independence, no force" will be labeled as
"disguised" Taiwan independence for the convenience of criticism. If
Frank Hsieh wins the election, his "reconciliation symbiosis" proposal
will also be fixed with the label of "pro-Taiwan independence" so that
long-term suppression of Taiwan can continue.

As I have mentioned in the past, the CCP started its substantial
increase in military spending and armed forces buildup after the
Tiananmen massacre in 1989. The regime has engaged aggressively in
military ventures with only one purpose: to consolidate and defend their
regime.

The gun has always pointed inward (to the Chinese people), not outward.
The history of the CCP is the proof. The regime would not acknowledge
that, of course. Therefore, "anti-Taiwan independence,"
"anti-terrorism," and "anti-hegemony" have all provided perfect excuses
for China's military expansion.